Alex the Kitty!

There may be turkey in the oven but there is also snow on the ground and cold northwest winds blowing through leafless branches of hibernating trees.

And Alex is not happy about it.

Well, the turkey part is okay, but the cold wind and the snow part? Nope.

Yesterday, he was in and out of the house 5 times. He wants his outside time so badly, but the warmth of a human house and the comfort of a soft bed? Way too enticing for a cold kitty. The concrete of the barn floor is so cold on a cat's paw that he finds it no fun to lie in wait for a luckless mouse. Much nicer to be inside and lie on dad's discarded insulated overalls.

Ah, the conflicted cat. The excitement of patrolling one's territory in the wind driven snow, or the security and comfort of the human's house?

After our golden, Tabitha, passed away in late June, we only walked the trails for about two weeks until life got so busy that we couldn't find the time or energy to go. I know Alex missed his daily walks with Tabitha and me, but when we just stopped going I'm sure he was wondering what happened.

With the building of barns, corrals, and new electric service behind us, we starting walking the trails again...and Alex wasn't about to be left behind!

The best part of having a cat go on a mile long hike with you, besides his fabulous company, is when he goes to bed in the evening, He Sleeps All Night Long!

Of course come 4:30AM, he's ready to go. He starts walking up my body and lies on my back, purring loudly. When I glance over my shoulder at him with a "Get off my back, two ton" look, he looks back at me with a "Oh, you're up?" stare.

Wow, what an honor for Mr. Mittens! We told him he was cat of the day and he was so bored to hear of it! His excitement was just so...underwhelming. All he can think about this time of the morning (circa 6:00AM) is me taking him back to the horse barn so he can check for mousies, smell around to see if an encroaching kitty invaded his territory overnight, and, of course his main job, supervise the feeding and cleaning of the horses.

Yesterday, we hung a couple of gates on a new corral we built just off the riding arena and he was there, sitting on one of the posts, supervising the operation. Nothing pleases Alex more than to have his peoples come out and do things with him when he is outside.

When Alex is outside, he is loving and demanding of attention. When he is inside...eh, not so much. He loves to be brushed, and that's okay, but petting? Don't bother. Mostly he plays with Rocky after eating then goes to bed.

'Ol Warrior Cat can't seem to stay out of trouble. He got into another cat fight yesterday morning. It doesn't appear that he suffered any wear or tear but he sure was worn out.

When I got home from my part time job around noon, my wife told me she thought he had been in a fight because he was just lying around and not trying to supervise everything she was doing. I went back to the horse barn and found him in a sun beam under a wheelbarrow. A quick once over didn't reveal any serious damage so I put him back down.

After lunch I went back out to check on him and found him in the same spot napping. "That's it, pal," I told him, "You're going inside." I picked him up and carried him back to the house, up the stairs to the bedroom and laid him on his favorite fleece blanket. And that is where he stayed except for a quick dinner, a drink of water and visit to the kitty litter. He was one worn out orange tabby cat!

This morning...well, he's already groomed Rocky, run around a bit, and is currently begging to go back outside.

I wish we had the fortitude to just say "NO, you're never going outside again!" We're hoping the encroaching winter weather will give us the opportunity to keep him inside more and more.

We've been pretty lucky to at least make him stay inside at night without him carrying on too much. Maybe we can keep him inside during the daytime longer and longer through the cold winter. Mr. Stuffy Pants HATES being cold!

On the same day Rocky got neutered, Alex picked a fight with the gray cat from next door. I didn't realize it at the time but 'ol Alex suffered a bite to the neck and a scratch just outside his right ear canal.

For several days afterwards, neither Alex or Rocky wanted much to do with each other. As I mentioned in the last entry, things were finally returning back to normal between them this past weekend.

Last night was like old times! After Alex came inside for the evening, the festivities began. 'Ol Mr. Stuffy Pants turned into a frenzied kitten playing with Rocky. They took turns chasing each other through the house, through the nylon tunnel, up on the cat tree, around and across the furniture...it was a feline "Wipe Out" frenzy of epic proportions.

We laughed and hooted at their antics all evening. Plus, we knew what all that energy expenditure meant for us...a restful night's sleep with no feline interruptions.

Alex...my sweet little orange Tabby cat. The cat that sleeps at the foot of the bed at night and rubs against my ankles in the morning while begging for his breakfast. Alex, the tender boy that wouldn't hurt a hair on Rocky's paw...this morning that Alex is the same cat I watched stalk up behind the neighbor's grey cat, Smokey, pounce on his back and start an apparent fight to the death! The fur was flying, the teeth were gnashing and the nails were ripping! It was an all out cat fight, a ball of orange and grey fur whirling and twirling on the ground. It looked to be a rather even match though. Both cats are boys, same size,same age and neither was granting quarter to the other. They were still going at it by the time I got to the fight and broke it up. Smokey was in no hurry to run off and Alex was in no mood to let him. I scooped Alex up...big tail and growls notwithstanding...and took him back to the house for a good exam to make sure he had no bad bites or scratches. He didn't, but he hasn't been allowed to go back outside. He can just suffer in the air conditioning and out of the mid-90's for a while.

Since tearing down our corn crib, Alex's favorite hangout, we have been non-stop! I need to get a haircut badly and just can't justify the time to get it done. The new barn, replacing the corn crib, has a few of the bones up but is on hold until Wednesday when the special order trusses arrive - we wanted a steeper pitch to match the existing horse barn. We have had to get hay in the barn and my wife had to get a horse ready for a show this past weekend (3 firsts, one second, one third, one fifth, one grand champion and a reserve champion and this is from a horse rescued from the race track after 90 races to save him from breaking down and being sold to the killers).

Alex and Rocky get along so well it is almost unreal. I would never have dreamed that a stuffy warrior like Alex could be so kind and playful to a kitten. But they play all the time and Alex loves to hold Rocky down and clean him. Alex has had to spend a lot more time indoors than he cares to because we have been away from the house so much. Nor is he allowed out when the contractor's crew is on-site building the barn. Not the way he loves to smell and climb around on trucks!

We have been simply blessed by the random acquiring of two very special and wonderful orange tabby cats.

I don't think it would be possible to replicate how well Alex and Rocky, not only fit so well into our rural lifestyle, but how fantastically the two of them get along together.

Little Rocky has brought Alex out of his stuffy shell and now has the three year old playing like he's a three month old. It has been an amazing transformation. When Alex comes in for the evening he and Rocky will cat wrestle, chase each other through the house and groom each other until bedtime. Alex is even asking to come inside during the day to spend some time with the Rockster. We always love having Alex inside with us and Rocky simply adores his "Uncle" Alex.

I love Alex, of course, but I did not adore him so much at 3:00 AM this morning when he started asking to go outside. I especially didn't care for Uncle Alex jumping up on the bed and walking up and down my prone body in an all out effort to get me up. He should know by now that his military tactics do not work on me. But it doesn't stop him being the occasional butt-head!

Of course, no matter his antics, I wouldn't trade my orange butt-head for anything!

When Alex is outside, one of his favorite places to safely hang out is in an old corn crib barn next to the horse barn. It's dark, it's cool, it's a cat's dream spot.

We starting tearing it down today.

It's a shame but the people who owned our place before us weren't very good stewards of the out buildings and this old pegged barn was neglected to uselessness. It is an amazing piece of old world construction - probably more than a 100 years old - but it is also ugly, useless and getting dangerous.

A new barn will go up where the corn crib stands now. Construction starts week after next. It will house our horse trailer, our tractor and have a new tack room in it. We really need this barn and have decided to take on the debt and get it done.

Poor Alex won't be able to hang out and hide in this barn as it will not be open and easily accessible like the old corn crib. Maybe we'll add a cat door to it so the boy can get in if he desires. Something to thing about.